Another Trevorrow Cut
by ptdf
Summary: A twist on the Trevorrow script for Episode IX leaked by Robert Burnett.
1. The Heist

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

**EPISODE IX**

**DUEL OF THE FATES**

The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remain unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death.

Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems.

Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom…

* * *

**1\. The Heist**

Rey stumbled out of the transport, orbital ring arching across the night sky.

"Kuat Shipyards," whistled Poe.

"The stars seem wrong," said Rey.

"Oh, some of those must be Star Destroyers," Poe said brightly.

"Right," said Rey. A tiny reminder of what they were up against. For every Destroyer the Resistance shot down the Order could always launch two more.

"This is where the Empire made the _Executor_," Poe said reverently. "Twenty kilometers of titanium, turbolasers and ion cannons."

"And oppression," said Rey.

"Well, yeah," said Poe. "But in the right hands…"

"Weren't you over your _blow stuff up _phase?"

"Not at all," smiled Poe. "Just my _blow stuff up without a plan_ phase."

"Very reassuring," said Rey, jostled by the crowd. She never thought she'd miss the isolation of the desert. She could handle the pervasive smell of oil, but not the feelings: exhaustion, frustration, resignation. Dozens of tiny wants and hopes swirling around her, threatening to pull her under…

"Rey?"

A voice.

"Rey!"

"Poe?" Rey said as his face came into view. She had to focus on a single person, let the others wash over her: he thought she was the Resistance's only hope; he wasn't sure that would be enough.

"Wow, you're really good with faces," said Poe, pushing through the throng. "Let's get some air."

He found an alley and eased her onto a crate. "You okay?"

"Yes," said Rey, "let's go."

"You sure?" said Poe. "Did you get a vision thing of all of us doing horribly? We can get a rain check, come back tomorrow."

"No vision," said Rey. "Who knows when we'll have another shot at this. We need to get to Finn."

Poe's feelings shifted from concern to what seemed like… jealousy?

"Alrighty," he said merrily.

#

Stormtrooper patrols increased as they neared the space elevator, shaft whittling to a silk thread as it tethered the ring above.

"They should be here by now," said Poe, grabbing his comlink.

"Just a little longer," said Rey.

"Any longer and the Order'll have this facility on lockdown," said Poe. "We have to…"

A black BB-9E droid rolled directly at them, beeping menacingly.

"Stop that droid!" cried Poe, drawing his blaster.

Rey reached out her hand; the droid spun uselessly as it levitated off the ground.

"One shot to the memory bank should do it," said Poe, aiming.

The droid beeped, furious.

"Wait!" cried Rey. "That's BB-8!"

"Don't fall for it," said Poe. "I know BB-8 and you're no BB-8."

"Tell us something only BB-8 would know," said Rey.

The droid beeped as if its life depended on it.

"Really?" said Rey, grinning. "A brothel on Tatooine? With a Whiphid?"

"BB-8, old buddy!" cried Poe, hurriedly hugging him.

"Wait, he says there's more," said Rey.

"I'm sure that's more than... oof!" said Poe as Rey released twenty kilos of droid into his arms.

"We interrupting anything?" asked Finn.

"Finn!" cried Rey, hugging him. "We were worried."

"Security was tighter than expected," said Finn.

"When did pimping BB-8 become part of the plan?" grumbled Poe.

"When we had to improvise," Finn said curtly.

Rey sighed as she sensed Finn's feelings. The Resistance had all but been destroyed, and the boys were more concerned with love triangles. She ought to ship them to Ahch-To - if they weren't going to deal with feelings like adults, they might as well bury them out of the way like Master Luke.

"Bomb's in the elevator," said Rose, noticing the stare-off. "Everything okay here?"

"Boys are busy measuring lightsabers," said Rey. "Let's blow this thing and go home."

"Roger that," said Rose, punching buttons on the detonator. "Device is armed. I'm setting the timer so that when it reaches the… uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" said Rey.

"Timer malfunction," said Rose, checking the display.

"Meaning?"

"We don't know when or if it's gonna blow," said Rose. "I have to check the bomb itself."

"It's too dangerous," said Rey. "We're leaving, now!"

"Attention Resistance scum, you are surrounded!" blared the facility PA.

"We're surrounded," said Poe, watching stormtroopers and AT-STs form a perimeter.

"Yeah, I heard the announcement," said Finn.

"There's no way to get to the extraction point," said Rose.

Poe looked at the elevator. "How about up?"

"When did boarding an elevator with an armed bomb become part of the plan?" said Finn.

"When we had to improvise," said Poe, smiling.

"Just go!" cried Rey.

#

The team blasted its way through laser fire to the elevator station.

"Shutting station doors," said Finn, shooting the control panel when they were all inside.

"Countdown is locked in," said Rose, checking the bomb's interface.

"Can you _un_lock it?" asked Rey.

Rose shook her head.

"Really wish you'd said that sooner," said Finn.

"How much time before it blows?" asked Rey.

"Twenty minutes," said Rose.

"How much time to the top?" asked Poe.

"I'd say around twenty minutes," said Rose.

"That's cutting it…" said Rey.

Poe punched the controls, sending the elevator barrelling up.

"...awfully close!" finished Finn.

"What happened to not blowing ourselves up without a plan?" said Rey.

"We _have_ a plan," said Poe. "Get up there and get as far as we can from that thing."

"And then?" said Finn.

"Then the plan is to make it up as we go," smiled Poe.

"They'll be waiting for us," said Rose.

Twenty minutes felt like an eternity. The soothing elevator music didn't help.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened to incoming laser fire.

Rey swept her arm, pushing stormtroopers down the hallway.

"Into the side corridor!" cried Finn.

"It's gonna blow!" cried Poe.

The stormtroopers took cover.

Nothing happened.

"Huh," said Poe. "I guess we had more than…"

Rey felt the shockwave before she heard the blast, followed by the roar of air escaping the breach, stormtroopers sucked into space, the hiss of pressure hatches closing, secondary explosions throughout the ring.

"Just like we planned," said Poe.

"We need a ship," said Rose.

"How about that one?" said Poe, pointing out the port hole.

"You want to hijack a Star Destroyer?" said Rey. "With four people?"

"Actually, they're pretty automated these days," said Finn, "it only takes about…"

"You heard the man!" cried Poe

"Wait, that's not what I…" Finn said as the others ran ahead.

#

The Star Destroyer was deserted but walkways were operational. The team reached the bridge with a minimum of back-tracking and near falls into bottomless pits.

"...all I'm saying is would it kill them to add safety rails?" said Finn.

"We're here!" cried Poe. "Finn, remember when I said I always wanted to fly a TIE fighter? Scratch that. I call helm!"

"I'll boot the hyperdrive," said Rose.

"I'll chart a course," said Rey.

"I'll… get us unmoored, I guess," sighed Finn. "Who died and made him Supreme Leader?"

"The Dark Side is insidious," smiled Rey, "sometimes all it takes is a shiny toy."

"Looks like they're scrambling fighters," said Poe.

"Hyperdrive ready," said Rose.

"Course ready," said Rey.

"Mooring ready," said Finn, "but the artificial gravity…"

"Punch it, Rose!" cried Poe.

Stars stretched into rays and they were gone.

#

With a final wail the TIE silencer skidded to a stop on magmatic rock. Kylo Ren staggered out, bloodshot eyes scanning the lava lake, the Star Destroyer wreck beyond.

"The _Sovereign_," supplied the blue wisp beside him. "Took a lightsaber to the power core, back when I was still shooting womp rats."

"Why are you here?" groaned Kylo, marching past irontrees to the fortress on the cliff. The stone halls had long been deserted.

"I am here because you are here," said Luke. "This is where the dark path leads, an empty tomb."

"Where did _your_ path lead?" growled Kylo. "You're a ghost."

"A ghost that bested you," said Luke. "I know what you're searching for, Ben. Your master promised you strength, but you feel hollow. Go home to Leia."

"I'm going to be more powerful than any Jedi, even you."

"This isn't about me," said Luke. "She's stronger than you."

"We fought together," said Kylo. "We were evenly matched."

"That was then, with very little training," said Luke. "Imagine what she'll be like next time. If only you hadn't cut your teacher in half..."

"Enough!" cried Kylo, Force-activating a broken altar.

A pyramid-shaped holocron emerged, projecting a dark-robed figure.

"Lord Vader, young Skywalker will soon be ours, I've foreseen it," said the recording. "But we must prepare for the unseen. Should he strike me down, you will take him to Mortis."

"Well, that takes me back," said Luke. "Too bad old Palpatine wants you to find a fairy tale."

"Your dismissiveness only hardens my resolve," said Kylo, grabbing the holocron.

"Ben, please," said Luke.

"When I am master over life and death," said Kylo, "I will banish your spectre from the realm of the living."

#

The Star Destroyer exited hyperspace over Korolev.

"As I was _saying_," growled Finn, floating across the bridge, "the artificial gravity system's offline. We were piggybacking on the ring station's AG."

"Duly noted," said Poe, watching the swirling white and green below. "It's beautiful."

"It's also launching X-Wings on an intercept course," said Rose, drifting past a console. "I suggest we open coms."

"Great id… ow!" said Poe, bumping into BB-8. "Rey?"

"This isn't what I trained for," sighed Rey, Force-pushing people to their stations.

"Korolev Base, this is Rose, please respond."

They didn't respond.

"Are we getting through?" asked Rey.

"Maybe it's shoot first, respond later," said Finn.

"First Order vessel," the duty officer finally replied. "Please provide proof of identification."

"Proof?" said Poe.

"X-Wings still incoming," said Rose.

"This one time," said Rey, joining Rose at the console, "Poe was at a brothel in Tatooine…"

"That'll do, that'll do," said Leia, taking over from the officer. "Park that thing in orbit and get back here, I want to hear the story."

"Thanks, man," said Finn, patting Poe on the back.

"Glad to be of service," sighed Poe.


	2. The Apprentice

**2\. The Apprentice**

* * *

Rey flipped through cryptic glyphs and diagrams, increasingly frustrated with long-dead masters meditating in their Temple. Reciting _there is no death_ wasn't very reassuring when it was staring you in the face. She closed the tome over her head and groaned.

"I'm no Luke Skywalker," said Finn, "but I don't think that's how the Force works."

"Oh, that explains a lot," said Rey, smiling.

"We did good today," said Finn. "Star-freaking-Destroyer good."

"Yeah," said Rey. "It's just hard to get excited about one when they have hundreds."

"Hey, we're not done yet, remember?" said Finn. "We also have the strongest Jedi in the galaxy."

"I fought side-by-side with Ren," said Rey. "We were evenly matched."

"He had years of training on you," said Finn. "Once you get those books off your head and into it…"

"Please don't…" said Rey.

"Why not?" said Finn.

"Because you don't know what's like!" cried Rey. "Those people on Kuat, the people on this base, even you - _especially _you."

"What about me?"

"You believe. So. Hard!" cried Rey. "You think that because I can lift rocks I'm gonna walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order."

"Well, sorry for thinking you're awesome and the best shot we have!" cried Finn. "And that's not even counting the rock stuff."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They started to feel a bit ridiculous.

"How awesome, exactly?" asked Rey.

"Not that awesome," said Finn, smiling. "I was trying to be contrarian."

"You're awful," said Rey.

"Can you really read minds?" said Finn.

"_Difficult to see, always in motion is the future_," said Rey.

"Deep," said Finn.

"Master Yoda," said Rey. "People's minds are like that, except it's a million thoughts changing all the time. Feelings are more stable but much, much vaguer."

"Oh," said Finn, feelings shifting. Concern? Embarrassment?

"But it's none of my business," Rey said quickly. "I try not to pry, for my own sanity."

"You still prying into him?" asked Finn.

"Every single night," sighed Rey. "I can't help it."

"You have to shut him out," said Finn. "He can't change, it's too late."

"It's never too late to change," said Rey. "You taught me that, Finn."

Finn sighed. "If you're gonna chat across hyperspace you could at least contact some Resistance cells. The coms blockade is strangling us."

"That's it!" cried Rey.

"Wait, you can really do that?" said Finn. "I didn't think the Force…"

"It doesn't!" said Rey, flipping back pages. "I mean, not that I know of. Here!" She pointed at a diagram of a five-spired ziggurat. "There's an Old Republic Force beacon under the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

"You mean the old Imperial Palace," said Finn. "How do you know it's still there?"

"C'mon, you're talking to rock-lifting girl," said Rey. "Believe."

#

The TIE silencer pierced the ashen cloud cover.

"Supreme Leader," said a holographic Hux. He always made it sound sarcastic.

"I'm busy," sighed Kylo.

"Of course," said Hux. "I merely wished to report we have identified the Resistance contact in Kuat. She has been executed."

"Excellent," said Kylo. "Perhaps next time you'll catch them _before_ they steal a 150 million credit Star Destroyer."

"Yes, well," said Hux, suitably deflated. "Sir, our allies grow restless with your absence. Perhaps if you returned to Coruscant…"

The better to be stabbed in the back? A cur's weakness can be a sharp tool, Snoke had said. You could count on fascists to keep the shuttles running on time. You just had to be careful that sharp tool didn't end up cutting you in half. "I'm after bigger game, _Chancellor_," sneered Kylo.

"A purely symbolic title, of course," stammered Hux. "The great power mentioned in the Sith texts. You found it?" He sounded disappointed.

"It's within my reach," said Kylo. "The ability to destroy a planet will be insignificant. Find the Resistance, wipe them out. Leave the girl to me."

"Yes, Supreme Leader."

The silencer jumped to hyperspace.

#

"_...we must prepare for the unseen. Should he strike me down, you will take him to Mortis_..."

Rey woke in a sweat, heart racing.

"You were talking to him again," said Leia, sitting next to her cot.

"Just a glimpse," said Rey. "He's going somewhere called Mortis."

"Mortis is a fairy tale," said Leia.

"Ben believes it."

"Ben is gone," said Leia. "We need you on the mission to Coruscant."

"There's good in him," said Rey. "I can save him."

"There's good in all of us," said Leia, "but the boy I knew is gone."

"Luke trained me well."

"You can't train for certain things," said Leia.

"There are Jedi rules."

"Written by whom?" said Leia. "Some old man a thousand years before you were born. My whole life I've heard about balance and I don't even know what that means. You're not like Anakin or Luke, you're new. Whatever happens, remember the Force chose you, Rey. Your story isn't written by anyone else."

Rey nodded. "How do I find Mortis?"

Leia sighed. "One of my father's operatives from the early days of the Rebellion supposedly went there and lived to tell the tale. People make up all kinds of crazy stories about Mortis, but this one my father believed. We'll get you their last known location, maybe they're still alive. The codename was Fulcrum."

#

The Falcon exited hyperspace over Lothal and flew over snow-covered meadows.

"Isn't the capital the other way?" said Finn.

"I'm as disappointed as you are," said Poe, "but these are the coordinates."

"There's nothing here," said Finn.

"Agreed," said Poe, "let's go look somewhere warmer."

"Wait," said Rey. "Over there, by the rock spire. Do you feel it?"

"The feeling we're wasting our time?" said Poe.

"I'm not picking up any… wait, a faint energy signature," said Finn, checking the scanner. "Not even a village, can't be more than…"

"A farm," sighed Poe as the round huts came into view.

Furry nerfs moved away as the ship landed, leaving only an infinitely bored purple-haired teen.

"Hello, little girl," said Rey, fastening her coat.

Boredom souring to deep offense, the teen stomped back to the farmhouse yelling "Auntie!".

"What?" said Rey.

"Teenagers," said Poe. "Watch and learn."

A wrinkled Togruta shuffled to the porch on her walking stick. "I'm Ashla. Can I help you?"

"I certainly hope so, mam," said Poe, engines on full charm. "We're looking for a man named Fulcrum, must be an old geezer by now, if he's even alive. Would you happen to know anyone by that name?"

Ashla smiled. "Why don't you take a seat?" she said, sitting on a wicker armchair. "This weather does a number on my knees."

"Don't mind if I do," said Poe, winking. Rey and Finn rolled their eyes as they followed.

"Mira," called Ashla, "would you be a dear and bring some spine root tea?"

"I'm not your servant!" Mira shouted back.

Ashla sighed. "Now then, what is it you want with this Fulcrum fellow? If he's even alive, as you say."

"That would be between ourselves and Mr. Fulcrum," said Poe, smiling. "If you have any information, we can make it worth your while."

Servant or not, Mira arrived with a tea tray.

Finn took a cautious sip and choked - it tasted pretty much like it smelled.

"That'll put a spine in ya!" cackled Ashla.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Ashla," said Rey, glaring at Poe. "My name is Rey, we're with the Resistance. Fulcrum may have the key to stopping the First Order from obtaining their greatest weapon yet."

"The Jedi Knight who cut the Supreme Leader down to size?" said Ashla, a sparkle in her eye. "That is quite the claim."

"News travels fast around these parts," said Finn, frowning.

"It does if you're listening," said Ashla.

"That was Ben, but I can prove who I am," said Rey, reaching for her saber. It was gone.

There was a blur of movement: Poe and Finn reached for their blasters, Ashla's cane knocked the saber from where it had been floating midair, drawing it to her hand.

"Enough!" cried Ashla. "Young lady, there will be no Force-trickery in this house!"

"But it's double-bladed!" whined Mira.

"Indeed it is," said Ashla, admiring the hilt before tossing it back to Rey. "One of the finest duelists I knew used one much like it."

"A Jedi?" asked Rey.

"A Sith," said Ashla. "And then something else."

"Wait," Poe said slowly, "you're saying _you're_ Fulcrum?"

"I haven't used that name in a long time," said Ashla, smiling. "I had to be sure you weren't First Order. My real name is Ahsoka."

"Ahsoka _Tano_?" said Rey. "Master Luke said you died in Malachor."

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," said Ahsoka. "What do you need? I'm a little old to fight another rebellion."

"I'm not!" cried Mira.

Ahsoka stared her down. It felt like a long-running argument.

"I need to go to Mortis," said Rey.

Ahsoka laughed out loud.

"Please don't say it's a fairy tale."

"It's much worse than that," said Ahsoka, springing out of her chair like a much younger woman. "Come help an old lady on her walk."

Finn and Poe started to follow.

"I'm sure the slayer of Snoke can handle herself against an old woman," said Ahsoka. "Try not to burn the house down."

#

Ahsoka set a lively step across the snow.

"So," said Rey, "where are we headed?"

"That's what you're gonna tell me," said Ahsoka.

Rey thought for a moment. "I felt something. When we were approaching the farm."

"Sounds exciting," said Ahsoka. "Let the Force guide you."

Rey led them to a clearing, golden aurora dancing above.

"There's nothing here," said Rey.

"That's what your senses tell you," said Ahsoka. "What do you feel?"

"There's… a massive stone below us," said Rey, "a bright star inside it…"

"This was the site of a Jedi temple," said Ahsoka. "The Empire sought to use its power, but the Rebellion sealed it off - it sank into the ground. Like any retired Force user worth their kyber crystal, I found myself a vergence to watch over - see what kind of dangerous or interesting folk were drawn here."

"This is all very interesting," said Rey, "but I need…"

"Please, indulge an old woman," said Ahsoka, sitting cross-legged on a rock. "You might get something you didn't know you needed. Mira!"

Rey scanned the pristine snow around them. Sometimes old masters were wise-crazy, sometimes just regular crazy.

"What?" whined Mira, stepping out from behind a rock.

"Since you followed us this far," said Ahsoka, "you might as well meditate."

"Meditation sucks," said Mira. "I'm ready for lightsaber training."

"Meditation _is_ lightsaber training," said Ahsoka.

"I mean _real_ lightsaber training," said Mira, "with the swoosh-swoosh and the voom-voom. When you were my age you were a Padawan!"

"Which taught me something about the wisdom of training child soldiers," said Ahsoka, closing her eyes. "Without meditation, a lightsaber is just a great way of chopping off an arm or a leg. Why, my old master..."

"I know, I know, both arms _and _both legs," sighed Mira, watching as Rey sat facing Ahsoka. "Fine!" she said, forming the third point in their triangle.

"What are we meditating for?" asked Mira.

"You don't meditate _for_ something," said Ahsoka. "Just open yourself up to the Force."

"Done," said Mira. "Now what?"

"Now you wait," said Ahsoka. "_In silence_."

Rey grinned, remembering her own frustration in Ahch To. Even if the Force didn't send her any grand visions, it would be nice to clear her head and…

_She was on a grey cliff wall, the night sky had no stars. A robed figure was climbing the steps to the top._

"_What are you doing?" Luke whispered behind her._

"_Is this Mortis?" asked Rey._

"_Kylo is about to unlock power he does not understand," said Luke. "You have to stop him and bring balance to the Force."_

"_Balance!" scoffed Rey. "Dark suffocates Light, Light extinguishes Dark, over and over. How is that balance in the Force?"_

"_I know that anger," said Luke. "I had it, my father had it too."_

"_So says my master, and his master before him," said Rey. "A thousand masters so eager to tell us how to live. I've spent my whole life wanting a family. I've got one now, I won't abandon them."_

"_The Force is speaking to you," said Luke._

"_Maybe I'm not who the Force thinks I am," said Rey._

"_Who are you?" said Luke._

"_I am no one."_

"_If you really believe these things," said Luke, "maybe the last Jedi is dead."_

"_Maybe he is."_

"_Who are you talking to?" asked the robed figure, turning around._

Rey was back in the clearing, panting.

"Did you get what you wanted?" asked Ahsoka.

"Yes," said Rey, troubled. "I know how to get to Mortis."

"You're unusually quiet, Mira," said Ahsoka. "Did you doze off again?"

"I saw something," said Mira, eyes watering. "A temple, stone statues. You." She looked at Rey. "You were dead."

"That's reassuring," said Rey.

"I saw danger," said Ahsoka, opening her eyes. "We need to get back to the farm."

#

Rey reached the farm as a modified Oubliette transport landed, spewing noxious gas.

Finn and Poe ran outside with their blasters.

"Get to the Falcon!" cried Rey.

"It's too late for that," said Ahsoka, coming up beside her.

Six black-clad warriors exited the shuttle, each a different mask and weapon.

"Knights of Ren," said Rey, igniting her blue double-bladed saber.

"Can we handle six Sith?" asked Mira.

"These are no Sith," said Ahsoka, igniting twin white sabers, reverse grip. "Just boys with toys."

"What about _my_ saber?" asked Mira.

"You're not ready," said Ahsoka. "Hide."

#

Ahsoka deflected a blaster shot as a smoke canister went off, engulfing her in darkness. She tried to focus as the battle roared around her. There, the adrenaline rush of a predator pouncing on seemingly helpless prey. She dodged the skull knight's Mandalorian ax (she'd been naming them according to their masks) and slashed his back. If she were twenty years younger she wouldn't have also lost her step and exposed herself to the growling knight's ridiculously oversized vibrocleaver (overcompensating much?). _E chu ta_.

The growling knight shrieked as his arm fell clean off, body crumpling shortly after. Mira stood in his wake, hands gripping the Mandalorian ax. "Are you okay?" she asked, tearing up. "He was going to…"

"I'm okay, child," said Ahsoka, hugging her.

As the smoke cleared there were six black-clad bodies on the ground.

"Help!" cried Finn, cradling an unconscious Poe, blaster shot on his chest. "C'mon, buddy, don't do this to me!"

"Do you have a bacta tank?" cried Rey. "There's a cryogenic capsule on the Falcon, we can stabilize him…"

"He's beyond that now," said Ahsoka, kneeling beside him. She placed her hand on his chest. "The living Force is nourishment. Some seek to take life to cheat death. But the power to _give_ life - wouldn't that be something?"

Ahsoka turned pale, for the first time looking her age. "Help me back to the house, Mira dear. I'm too old for this excitement." She turned to Rey. "Mortis is an odd place. I died there, once. May the Force be with you, young Jedi."

Poe started coughing, knitted flesh visible under the charred fabric.

"You're alive!" cried Finn.

Poe pulled him in for a kiss.

Oh, thought Rey. _Oh_. As it dragged on she coughed politely.

"Sorry," said Poe, grinning. "Just had a near-death experience."

"Death-death experience," Finn corrected.

"Life is short," said Poe. "I'm not wasting another second."

"We got to talking while you were away," said Finn.

"Turns out we both had feelings for each other," said Poe.

"But each thought the other had the hots for you," said Finn.

"Ridiculous, I know," said Poe.

"Well, not _that_ ridiculous," said Rey, slightly offended.

"Is this weird for you?" said Finn.

"C'mon, Jedi mind reading," said Poe. "I'm sure she knew all along."

"Oh absolutely," Rey said with a forced chuckle. "Totally Jedi mind thingy."

"Right," said Finn. "You should've told us, saved us the time."

"Oh I would've," said Rey, "except… time. 'Cause it's always in motion. The future, that is. Isn't it funny how he always says things backwards? Anyway…"

"Right," said Poe. "Did you find Mortis?"

"Yes," said Rey, grateful to change the subject. "You guys need to get back to Leia. If the Coruscant mission works she's going to need all hands on deck."

"How about you?" asked Finn.

"I'm going after Ben."


	3. The Master

**3\. The Master**

* * *

The TIE silencer crashed into a gray waste, the night sky bereft of stars. Kylo stormed across the dirt.

"Ben, stop," said Luke

"Do you feel it, old man?" said Kylo. "The Force is strong here. A vergence unlike anything I've ever felt."

A mountain range rose from the waste, a ruined spire at its base.

"There is something here," said Kylo. "I feel cold, death."

"The place is strong with the Dark Side of the Force," said Luke. "A domain of evil."

"What's in there?" asked Kylo.

"Only what you take with you," sighed Luke.

Kylo walked past broken columns to a shadowy stone dais.

"Reveal yourself," whispered a voice.

"I wish to obtain the power of those who came before," said Kylo. "To take my place among the gods of Mortis. To rule the galaxy without armies, without spaceships."

"Yet you fear the frailty of your vessel," said the voice. "You need this power. Kneel. You call yourself a Sith, but the Sith are unrepentant, remorseless. You are haunted by the past, your very existence."

"I have no regrets," said Kylo.

"You lie. Until you sever yourself from the past, you are destined to fail. You're not worthy yet."

"I'll show you my worth!" cried Kylo, igniting his saber.

"You threaten me with death," said the voice, igniting their own. Black armor reflected the blood-red glow. "How amusing."

"Lord Vader!" cried Kylo, hesitating.

"You presumed to finish what I started," said Vader, descending the dais. "It would seem Snoke was correct: you are no Vader, just a child in a mask. You will now taste the original."

#

In a desperate strike Kylo sliced Vader's saber in half, severing a robotic finger.

"You're the one who failed!" cried Kylo, swinging for the kill. "I understand now your weakness, your pain. You allowed love to cloud your judgement!"

"A mistake I shall not repeat," said Vader, Force-pulling Kylo's saber from his grasp and cutting off his hand.

Kylo screamed.

He was alone in the ruin again. His hand was whole.

"Just an illusion," whispered Kylo, counting fingers.

"Seemed real enough when I went through it," said Luke.

"How did it feel when he drained your life?" asked Kylo.

"What? Oh, I chopped that asthmatic bastard's head off," said Luke. "Not that it's a competition."

"I've tarried long enough," said Kylo, storming up the cliff steps.

"Ben, wait," said Luke.

Rey's projection appeared beside him.

"What are you doing?" whispered Luke.

#

"Who are you talking to?" said Kylo, turning around.

Luke was gone.

The steps opened onto a plateau where a similar building had been sculpted out of the mountain - perhaps the mountain had been sculpted out of the building.

The empty courtyard sprouted into a forest. Kylo watched in silence as his younger self approached the house in the woods.

Han opened the door. "What are you doing, Ben?"

"That's not my name anymore."

"You mother can't see you here," said Han. "Not like this."

"I'm not coming back," said Kylo. "There's a greater destiny for me."

"They're lies, son, empty promises," said Han. "You have everything you need right here, right now."

"What, you? Her?" said Kylo. "My master says I have unequaled power none of you understand."

"Your mother understands better than anyone," said Han.

"She sent me away," said Kylo.

"To learn, to grow," said Han.

"I _have_ grown."

"Your mother loves you," said Han.

"She's afraid of me."

"Give me the lightsaber, son," said Han, reaching for it.

"You know I can't," said Kylo.

#

The Oubliette transport crashed into the grey waste. Rey followed the footprints to the ruins, wondering at the scorch marks of lightsaber combat. She climbed the steps from her vision and reached the plateau.

"The Force is strong in this place," said Kylo, standing with his back turned. "Can you feel it?"

"What I feel is pain," said Rey.

"Get out of my head," said Kylo. "You won't like what you find."

"I'm stronger than Anakin Skywalker," said Kylo. "Stronger than his son."

"But you are still afraid," said Rey.

"Of what?" said Kylo. "You?"

"Of what you've become," said Rey. "The Dark Side has left you empty, a husk."

"I don't have to be alone," said Kylo. "With the power of this place we could rule the galaxy as the ancients did, the Dark Side and the Light."

"You still think I'd join you after what you did?" said Rey. "You murdered Han Solo."

"I'm not here for you, Rey."

"You murdered millions of people."

"All I want is behind that door," said Kylo

"You'll have to kill me," said Rey.

"I know," said Kylo, igniting his saber and jumping impossibly high. "Did I mention the Force is strong here?" he laughed.

#

Rey jumped from the temple roof to the plateau's edge, staggering. Kylo was one step ahead.

"I could've been your teacher," he said, slashing her face. "I could've ended your pain."

Screaming, Rey tumbled down the steps.

Kylo entered the temple, giant statues guarding a central stone slab. He Force-pushed it aside.

Empty.

"You've lost, Ben," said Luke.

"Darth Vader was weak," said Kylo.

"His love for his family saved him," said Luke. "I wish it could save you."

"I did what I had to do," said Kylo.

"You are no Skywalker," said Luke, fading. "You cannot defeat us. I am not alone, Obi-Wan is right. The Force surrounds us, it binds the galaxy together. We are bound by the Force. We are one. We will not be broken."

"Our masters were wrong," Rey called from the temple entrance, burned eyes blindfolded. "I will not deny my anger and I will not reject my love. I am the darkness and I am the light."

"You're nothing," said Kylo. "You are no one."

"No one is no one," said Rey, igniting her saber.

#

Rey slammed Kylo against a statue, cracking it in half.

"I've picked up a few tricks as well," said Kylo, drawing on her life. "They were all wrong, all of them. The power of this place can't be taken. But it's nothing compared to you."

"Ben, please," said Rey, staggering.

Kylo dropped her as Leia's voice rippled across the Force. "..._our voices will not be silenced. We can no longer live in the shadow of the First Order, we must step into the Light…_"

"The beacon..." whispered Rey, losing consciousness.

"No!" roared Kylo, reaching through the Force and silencing it. He turned back to Rey, ready to become what he was meant to be.

Ben Solo collapsed as the last of his life was given.

Rey awoke in darkness, motes of light drifting like fireflies.

"Is this death?" she asked.

"In this place there is no such thing as death," said Obi-Wan.

"I can see…"

"Your true self is free of suffering, free of pain," said Obi-Wan.

"Taught us much, you have," said Yoda.

"_I_ taught _you_?"

"Hmmmm," said Yoda. "Succeeded where we have failed. Narrow was our point of view."

"You chose to embrace the Dark Side and the Light," said Luke. "To find the balance within."

"Coexist they must," said Yoda. "As such feelings do in all of us."

"But if I'm here with you…"

"A choice you must make," said Yoda, "to return or to remain."

"Here there is serenity, knowledge and peace," said Luke. "Those lost but not forgotten."

"And there?"

"There you will face a galaxy in turmoil," said Obi-Wan. "Pain, suffering, the loss of those you love."

"But living you will be," said Yoda. "Love you shall."

"You are a Jedi," said Luke. "But you will not be the last."

"There will be more," said Rey, "but I am no Jedi."

"Really?" said Luke, smiling. "How so?"

"There will always be Force-sensitive children out there," said Rey. "The Republic sought to train them into warrior monks, the Empire to slaughter them. I thought I might give them more than two options."

#

Finn and Poe pushed their way through the buzzing command bridge of the Resistance Destroyer.

"General Organa!" called Poe.

"Just a moment, Commander," said Leia, flooded by staffers. "One would think we were liberating an entire planet or something."

"Palace Sector has been secured," said Finn. "FO forces have either been destroyed, surrendered or retreated."

"Excellent," said Leia. "We'll redeploy your forces to the Garrison sector, someone there didn't get the memo that Hux is no more."

"General," said Rose, "a TIE fighter has just exited hyperspace."

"You mean a squadron?" said Poe.

"No, just the one," said Rose.

"That's Kylo's ship!" said Finn.

"FO vessel," said Rose, "power down your weapons and prepare to be escorted."

"Resistance Destroyer, this is Rey," the pilot replied. "This one time at a brothel on Tatooine…"

"That's enough," sighed Poe.

"Looks like you didn't need a Jedi with a laser sword after all," said Rey.

"Great to have you back," said Finn.

#

Leia toured the ranch on the Modesta woodlands, children of all ages running about.

"Luke would've been proud," she said. "A new Jedi Academy."

"Not a Jedi one," said Rey, walking beside her.

"Intriguing," said Leia.

"I have a theory," said Leia. "Ten thousand force users, all thinking the same way over thousands of years… that has a way of rippling across reality, be it crude matter or people's minds. Even if they don't intend it, even if they're not aware of it, it adds up. Sure, they can glimpse the future, but they have such a strong hand on what the future will be it's practically self-fulfilling."

"Strong enough to conceive a boy without a father," said Leia.

"Exactly," said Rey. "Or empower the Sith their world view so desperately required."

"Don't tell me this is a Sith Academy," chuckled Leia. "It's too beautiful."

"I suspect they'd kill each other before recess," smiled Rey. "I thought we might try going beyond the binary. The Force isn't shaped this way, not necessarily. This is just one way of seeing it, a very influential way of seeing it. But the Jedi texts mention others, philosophies that saw the Force as one, or three, four, five… as many ways as there are sentient races out there who reach out with their minds and try to make sense of it."

"Which will you teach?" asked Leia.

"All of them? None?" said Rey. "I suspect many will gravitate to the Jedi path, it has a very dramatic tradition. Many will find it too strict. Maybe this time they can find a softer alternative, one where marriage is allowed and we don't lose a Republic over it."

"Some will inevitably walk the path of the Sith," said Leia.

"We'll have to keep an eye on those," said Rey. "The Force doesn't have strong views about the optimal tax rate, or how people should live their lives or arrange public matters. It empowers the saber that destroys as much as the one that protects. We'll have courses, but the answers will have to be hammered out out there, in the real world."

"Philosopher warriors?" said Leia.

"Hopefully not all warriors," said Rey. "I also want to teach technique, whether you want to lift rocks for a duel, the construction industry, or to make the most beautiful rock sculpture in the galaxy. Not everyone is cut out to be a warrior, being Force-sensitive should not mean a greater burden than any other civilian. There should be other paths to develop your talents."

"I believe I've been outmaneuvered," said Leia. "I came here hoping for a Jedi army with which to defeat FO remnants and bring this war to a close. Yet I find you are training rock sculptors."

"You have myself, General," said Rey, "and those of my students who volunteer. Yet I have something to request in turn: a teacher."

"I am no Jedi Master," said Leia.

"I do not require a Jedi Master," said Rey. "I require someone with experience in government, someone who has led rebellions and rebuilt Republics. Someone who has lived History."

"I'm a little busy rebuilding at the moment," said Leia.

"We would be happy to have you after the war ends," said Rey. "Whatever's compatible with your political schedule."

Leia looked her in the eye. "You drive a hard bargain, Master Rey," she said, offering her hand.

Rey shook it. "I've learned from the best, Professor Organa."


End file.
